Tamim, Mushfiqur to play in APL -The Asian Age

Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim were picked by Nangarhar in the inaugural Afghanistan Premier league (APL), which is set to begin from October 5.

While Tamim and Mushfiqur was picked there were several others Bangladeshi players who did not get any squad in the five franchises of the tournament. Mohammad Ashraful, whose ban was lifted in last August was also in the draft but fail to attract any franchises.

In the players draft held in Dubai on Monday. Tamim, who was in the diamond category, was picked for $75,000 in the second call of the draft. Mushfiqur was sold to same franchise for $50,000 as he was in the gold category.

Several Bangladeshi players like - Mohammad Ashraful, Sabbir Rahman, Imrul Kayes, Shahriar Nafees, Anamul Haque, Liton Kumar, Abul Hasan, Mohammad Saifuddin, Taskin Ahmed, Abu Hider, Abdur Razzak and Sunzamul Islam were also included in the draft. ''It will be exciting as all the teams are well balanced,'' Tamim told reporters on Tuesday. I am looking forward to play in the tournament,'' he added.

Meanwhile, Shahid Afridi, Chris Gayle, Rashid Khan, Brendon McCullum and Andre Russell have been named as 'icon players' for their respective franchises.

Each of the five teams - from Paktia, Kabul, Balkh, Nangarhar and Kandahar - boast of a 17 to 20-member squad. Apart from local players, each squad also needs to have five overseas cricketers and one Associate player, picked via a draft system.